The Daily Dive

This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

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The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is getting an upgrade this weekend (July 16) as it debuts a new three-digit number for calls and texts.  The new number is 988 and the hope is that the shorter number will be more memorable during a crisis.  Underscoring how important the service is, latest numbers show that one in six calls to the hotline go unanswered, so it is more important then ever to get people connected.  Brianna Abbott, health reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know about 988, the new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number.

Next, recent news out of the field of xenotransplantation, two brain-dead people has pig hearts transplanted which offered doctors a chance to use new infectious disease protocols designed to help ensure that pig viruses aren’t transmitted to patients.  This is all leading up to plans for the FDA to allow clinical trials for pig organ transplants.  Amy Dockser Marcus, health and science reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more.

Finally, another 40-year high, inflation has soared to 9.1%.  Driving the increases have been continued high energy costs, but also rising food and housing costs.  The big challenge is how to curb inflation without causing a recession.  The main tool of the Fed is to keep raising interest rates and they have signaled they will keep doing so.  Rachel Siegal, economics reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for the nation’s most challenging economic problem.

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Twitter is now suing Elon Musk seeking to enforce the $44 billion deal he made to buy the company after he said he wanted out.  Musk says his decision to drop out has to do with Twitter not providing him enough info to be able to verify how many accounts on the platform are fake and that could be tough to decide as data scientists say isn’t easy to determine.  Sarah Needleman, tech reporter at the WSJ, joins us for the complex metric this legal battle will be centered on.

Next, CA Gov. Gavin Newsom took to Washington DC while President Biden is out of the country on a trip to Israel and the Middle East.  It seems that Newsom has been trying to raise his national profile on issues such as abortion, climate change and guns and even pushing back on his own party for not being strong enough on those issues.  All that movement has sparked discussion on whether he has presidential ambitions.  Hannah Knowles, campaign reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for more.

Finally, Americans are cancelling homebuying deals at the highest rates since the start of the pandemic.  A new report from Redfin says 15% of deals are being cancelled and even homebuilders are seeing cancellations.  Inflation and higher mortgage rates are mostly to blame with some borrowers no longer qualifying for the loans they want.  Diana Olick, real estate correspondent at CNBC, joins us for what to know.

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NASA has released photos from the James Webb Space Telescope from its first six months of observation and the incredible images show a range of deep space features including a nebula around a dying star, water vapor around an exoplanet, an area where new stars are born and a huge image of five galaxies where one of them is tearing a path through the cluster.  Purbita Saha, deputy editor at Popular Science, joins us for our first look at what the JWST can do.

Next, a new report from the CDC is showing that the pandemic fueled a surge in superbug infections and deaths.  Overall, there was a 15% increase mostly due to sicker patients, lack of staff and safety equipment and doctors overprescribing antibiotics.  Early on when doctors didn’t know how to treat Covid, they gave almost 80% of those hospitalized antibiotics even though they didn’t need them.  Lena Sun, health reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

Finally, as many people continue to look for new jobs that provide the work/life balance they want, remember to look at the fine print.  Those remote jobs you may have your eye on, may not be as remote as you think.  Some jobs listed as remote still require new hires to come into the office part-time or even live nearby to attend occasional in-person meetings.  Lindsay Ellis, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to watch out for so you don’t waste your time.

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Americans relationship with college is complicated and according to a new poll many think that it might not be worth the cost and time commitment.  Overall, most people believe that the benefits outweigh the costs long-term, and those with bachelor’s degrees usually earn 75% more than they would if they only have a high school diploma.  But the pandemic also plays a big part in this as enrollment has been down 1.3 million students since March 2020.  Chris Quintana, education reporter at USA Today, for how many still value higher education, but feel it’s too expensive for many.

Next, could your smartphone be ruining your memory?  We are increasingly outsourcing much of our memory to an external device like our phones and we are missing out on some of the complex actions our brains should be doing.  Experts say that constant distractions from notifications are keeping us from moving memories into long-term storage.  Another downfall is relying too much on GPS step-by-step directions which can prevent us from improving spatial memory abilities.  Rebecca Seal, contributor to the Guardian, joins us for the rise of digital amnesia.

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Driven by mass migrations of both workers and employers, red states have been winning the post-pandemic economic recovery over blue states.  Not really a move because of political preferences, workers left for financial and lifestyle reasons such as cheaper housing, less Covid restrictions and lower taxes.  Biggest winners are Florida, Texas, and North Carolina while California, New York and Illinois have lost the greatest number of residents.  Josh Mitchell, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how red states have had quicker recoveries.

Next, we’ll tell you about Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of the Texas abortion law.  Known by many to be a very bright legal mind, his legal theories and court cases have laid the groundwork which brought down Roe v. Wade.  Looking ahead to what is next, he has jumped into other lawsuits over everything from a contraceptive mandate to affirmative action and same-sex marriage.  His theories are based in textualism, which basically refers to the thought that if a constitutional right is not mentioned in the constitutional text, then it doesn’t exist.  Lauren McGaughy, investigative reporter at the Dalla Morning News, joins us for more.

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robert Crimo III, the suspect in the Highland Park shooting, was able to purchase guns legally despite a suicide attempt in April of 2019 and another incident where Highland Park police were called to his family home after he threatened to “kill everyone.”  In 2020 and 2021 he passed four different background checks that cleared him to purchase the firearms after his father co-signed for him.  Monica Eng, reporter at Axios Chicago, joins us for how Crimo legally bought his guns.

Next, as we approach the midterm elections and beyond, a possible shadow race for 2024 that is developing is the back-and-forth between CA Gov. Gavin Newsom and FL Gov. Ron DeSantis.  Newsom just took out a $100,000 ad in Florida taking a shot at Florida’s politics and Republicans are eager to have the fight with him.  Jeremy White, CA politics reporter at Politico, joins us for the growing political ambitions for these two governors.

Finally, with all of our data constantly in jeopardy you might want to consider scrubbing your info from the internet.  Well, the bad news is that you’ll never fully be able to delete everything online, but you can minimize some of it.  More bad news, it is going to take time, money and patience.  Heather Kelly, tech reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for what to know about deleting your data. 

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WNBA star Brittney Griner has been detained in a Russian prison since Feb. 17 when she was caught at an airport near Moscow with hash oil in vape cartridges.  She is on trial right now where a guilty verdict could carry a sentence of 10 years.  Her best hope of getting out could be a prisoner exchange, but the U.S. has long been wary of these and the DOJ usually opposes them.  Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know.

Next, there are now enough doses of vaccine available globally to vaccinate all adults and children, but the demand has dropped so much that governments, vaccination sites, and even the drugmakers themselves are having to dispose of millions of doses.  One of the main problems is that vaccines are packaged in multi-dose vials, and once they’re opened, the rest must be discarded if not used in 12 hours.  Peter Loftus, Pharma reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how the supply has now outstripped the demand.

Finally, Lake Mead has shrunk to record lows.  The reservoir supplies electricity to 350,000 homes as well as irrigation and drinking water to 25 million people.  But as the water levels continue to drop, people are more interested finding barrels with bodies or jewelry and other treasures that were once hidden.  Joshua Partlow, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

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